Active Directory – Documentation

Rob| May 4, 2011

Having started a new job recently, one of the first things I wanted to do was get a handle on how the Active Directory infrastructure looked, to do this I decided to use my old friend the “Active Directory Topology Diagrammer” which is a free tool available from Microsoft.

My understanding was that most people were aware of this tool, however, the mere mention of it has been met with furrowed brows and confusion. As a result, I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and create my first blog post in some time and share the link so you can download it.

By using ADTD what you will see is an automated diagram using Visio which will draw your AD topology including your domain(s), trust(s), sites and site links, Domain Controllers, OU structure and your Exchange Organisaion among others.

You will also get an excel spreadsheet which shows your Domain Controllers (including the OS and Service Pack), FSMO role location and identify which servers hold the Global Catalog.